I went off to college at American University in September, 1965; the Cardinals were still technically world champions, but there would be no miracle this year.\u00a0 American University was a logical choice; I loved politics and where better to be than Washington, DC.\u00a0 I also loved baseball and the old Washington Senators always had plenty of seats available.\u00a0 The Baltimore Orioles (formerly St. Louis Browns) were just 40 miles up the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.<\/p>\n

<\/a>I had been in Los Angeles the month before, but not when the impoverished Watts neighborhood exploded with one of America\u2019s largest race riots to date; 34 people had been killed, 1,032 injured and 3,952 arrested.\u00a0 It was then that we began to hear the term \u201crising expectations;\u201d that African-Americans (then called \u2018Negroes\u2019 and about to be called \u2018blacks\u2019) found that legislative gains and increasing white awareness of their plight had not resulted in decent jobs, good schools, adequate and accessible health care, and de facto<\/em> equal rights.<\/p>\n

The next three summers were characterized by \u201cracial disturbances\u201d (i.e. riots) in over 100 American cities.\u00a0 St. Louis was the only major city that seemed to escape the carnage.\u00a0 Theories abounded: St. Louis was neither a northern nor a southern town; there was less (or was it more?) police brutality than elsewhere; and of course everybody\u2019s favorite; the town was otherwise occupied in 1967 and 1968 as the Cardinals once again won the National League pennants.\u00a0 True or not, race relations and the Cardinals were inexorably mixed in the late 1960s.\u00a0 What did Bob Gibson, who could be so intimidating on the mound, think about the civil rights struggle and accompanying violence?\u00a0 What about Cardinal center fielder Curt Flood?\u00a0 When he was traded following the 1969 season while making $90,000 \/ year (among the highest salaries in baseball), he likened the reserve clause which took away his freedom to decide for which team he wanted to play, as slavery.\u00a0 The players didn\u2019t speak publicly about political issues, which while frustrating to a fan, only allowed us to play the game of speculation all the more.\u00a0 When Flood (along with teammate Tim McCarver) was traded following the 1969 season, it took a large bite out of the hearts of many Cardinal fans.<\/p>\n

It almost seemed that the Cardinals were cursed by the trade during the 1970s; they almost always competed but never won the National League Eastern Division (baseball was now<\/p>\n

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